"It is too early for us to give you an accurate picture of what 120 lines of inquiry will distil down to but we believe we will come up with between 20 to 25 victims."

Peter Liver, from the NSPCC, said over the last five days the charity has received 40 calls following the claims of abuse committed by Savile.

Of these, 24 have been referred to police or other agencies that can support victims of abuse, he said, and 17 directly relate to Savile.

Mr Liver said there were also 21 unrelated calls to the helpline that stemmed from publicity over the allegations.

He said they consisted of "people coming forward to report abuse as a result of the attention that has been drawn to this".

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "As part of an investigation being headed by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of sexual abuse made against the late James Savile, Greater Manchester Police has, to date, recorded two separate complaints.

"These are historic complaints dating back to the 1960s.

"The complaints will be passed to the Metropolitan Police Service for further assessment and therefore it would not be appropriate to make further comment."

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